NYU grad worker forced to pull tooth bc of university's useless dental plan

[Omaha Steve]

Video below.

http://nyulocal.com/on-campus/2015/03/09/why-do-graduate-students-want-a-union-anyway/

March 9, 2015
WHY DO GRADUATE STUDENTS WANT A UNION, ANYWAY?

With the possibility of a graduate student worker’s strike upon us, a very simple question presents itself: Why do graduate students want a union in the first place?

President John Sexton has stressed his understanding that graduate student workers are “highly privileged people,” and Provost David McLaughlin sent an email to the NYU community which referred to the administration’s offer to the Graduate Student Organizing Committee (GSOC) as “generous” four times. But those on the other side of the negotiating table see things in a different light.

Jonah Birch, a teaching assistant and Ph.D. student at the sociology department has documented problems he has faced with NYU’s dental plan. Improved dental coverage is one of GSOC’s demands.

In a video, Birch described how he came to the decision to have a tooth pulled rather than get the treatment he needed. “I was TA’ing and I was on the Stu-Dent plan at NYU for dental services,” he said. But even with the plan covering a fifth of the cost, he would have to pay over $4,000 out of pocket to repair a damaged molar. Without access to that much money, he asked if there was some other option. According to Birch, “Well, we can pull the tooth,” was the reply.

FULL story at link.

Published on Nov 18, 2014
Jonah Birch has been a TA at NYU who pays for the university's "Stu-Dent" dental plan. Even with the plan, he was looking at a $4000+ surgery to repair one damaged molar. The only alternative was to pull the tooth. GSOC-UAW is demanding that NYU provide quality dental care to its workers. So far, NYU has offered no improvements to the current standard of care.

www.makingabetternyu.org
www.facebook.com/nyuawdu

[LibDemAlways]

1. I totally sympathize, but most dental plans

don't actually cover much. I have decent dental insurance and will still be out over 2 grand for a crown I'm paying off to the tune of $200/mo. The dentist was pissed I coudn't pony it up all up at once. Squeezing blood out of the preverbial turnip.

[Omaha Steve]

6. We spend $11 a month for dental

Marta's office picks up the rest. We haven't spent a dime out of pocket for 2-3 years. We both go every 6 months. We have both been in this year already. Cleaning and the fancy x-ray that wraps around your head. Nothing out of pocket.

Crowns and bridges weren't bad when we needed them. I think they paid 1/2. We planned ahead and took out extra flex to cover them the next year.

OS

[dolphinsandtuna]

2. I find it seriously hard to believe repairing and probably capping a tooth costs $4000.

I have had major major dental work done a number of times including recently. $1000 is more like it.

Plus, the kind of work he is talking about, part of it (a type of oral surgery) is likely covered by medical insurance, not dental.

Also, no one has decent dental insurance.

[passiveporcupine]

3. 4K may not be that high

This guy may be referring to a crown lengthening, which is probably not covered by medical insurance, as it wouldn't be necessary for a pulled tooth...only for some crowns.

$4K does sound high for one tooth, but not all teeth can be crowned, and without doing work on surrounding teeth to support a partial, you may not have many options except to fix all necessary teeth or put in an implant. A single implant can range from $1500 to $7500.

[dolphinsandtuna]

4. he said one tooth

so I assumed not a bridge.

[passiveporcupine]

5. I had to have one tooth fixed, and could not afford it

because it meant crowning two teeth surrounding it, which otherwise did not need crowning...but that was the only way to make them strong enough to support a bridge for one tooth. So I had to have that one tooth pulled. the cost of one partial and two crowns and a crown lengthening for one of them, all to fix one tooth, was way beyond my ability to pay.